A 77-year-old Ewing man has tested positive for the West Nile virus.
Serum and spinal fluid samples tested positive for West Nile virus in
the Department's Public Health and Environmental Laboratories. Final confirmation
of this case will be made through testing by the federal Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC). The Mercer County man was admitted to Robert
Wood Johnson University Hospital at Hamilton on August 21 with symptoms
including fever, stiff neck and changes in mental status. He remains hospitalized
in serious, but stable condition.

More crows and mosquitoes have tested positive for the presence of
West Nile virus (WNV).

Human Testing

In total, 73 residents have been approved for WNV testing this season.
Blood and/or spinal fluid samples from these individuals are in the
process of being tested for the presence of WNV. These individuals either
had symptoms or signs that met the established WNV testing criteria
or exhibited most of the symptoms and are from counties where dead crows
and/or mosquitoes with the virus have been discovered.

To date, 32 are negative, 40 tests on people are pending and 1 positive.

Human testing for WNV is being conducted at the New Jersey Department
of Health and Senior Services' Public Health and Environmental Laboratory
in Trenton and at public health labs in other states. Testing results
are sent to the CDC for confirmation.

The department has also received 233 bird samples (mostly crows)
deemed unsatisfactory for testing and has been notified of 909 dead
or ill birds (mostly crows) not submitted for testing due to their condition.

Equine testing is conducted by the New Jersey Department of Agriculture's
animal health laboratory in Trenton and positive results are sent to
the National Veterinary Services Lab (NVSL) in Ames, Iowa for confirmation.
For more information, visit the Department of Agriculture website at
www.state.nj.us/agriculture.

Additional Information & Advisories

Among the personal precautions residents can take now are such measures
as eliminating standing water on their own property (such as clearing
clogged gutters, draining flower pots, recycling old car tires, etc.),
and repairing window and door screens. In the spring, summer, and fall
residents can spray insect repellent on their clothing and exposed skin
in accordance with labeling directions, wear long sleeved shirts and
pants when outdoors, or curb outdoor activities at dawn, dusk and during
the evening.

The West Nile virus, an arboviral disease, is transmitted through
the bite of a mosquito that has picked up the virus by feeding on an
infected bird. WNV infection generally causes no symptoms or just mild,
flu-like symptoms; however, the elderly are at higher risk of more severe
disease.

Between 1999 and 2002, lab testing confirmed WNV infection in 18 New
Jersey residents, and one 2002 case pending confirmation, with two resulting
fatalities. The virus has also been detected in mosquitoes, horses,
or crows and other birds in every county in New Jersey.

New Jersey's WNV surveillance, control and prevention activities
involve the coordinated efforts of a number of federal, state and local
agencies. These include the New Jersey Departments of Health and Senior
Services, Environmental Protection, and Agriculture, the CDC, the State
Mosquito Control Commission, the Rutgers Mosquito Research and Control
Unit, and local health and mosquito control agencies.